


Si dolce e'l tormento

by Zoa



Series: The Reylo Tales: My Collection of Reylo One-Shots [13]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Abuse, Angst with a Happy Ending, Ben is mad about it, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Godfather AU, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Mild Sexual Content, Physical Abuse, Rey is living with Unkar so bad stuff happens off-scene, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:47:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25097107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoa/pseuds/Zoa
Summary: Tumblr prompt: "The Godfather au when Ben Solo was exiled at his father's hometown for relatied killing his enemies and he met met local village girl who stolen his heart"Title from the Monteverdi madrigal of the same nameTranslation: How sweet is the torment
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: The Reylo Tales: My Collection of Reylo One-Shots [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1691227
Comments: 21
Kudos: 82





	Si dolce e'l tormento

**Author's Note:**

> I have tried to cover all the bases with the tags and have probably covered too many bases but I want to be safe. Rey doesn't have a happy life but she will by the end I promise.

Exiled. For what? For doing what should have been done a long time ago? 

He looked down at the tattoo of twin suns on the underside of his wrist. 

Fine. They could exile him. He didn’t need them. He didn’t want them. 

Ben Solo swept his eyes over the olive orchards of Corellia, surveying his father’s birthplace. His new home. 

His grave. 

****

His family’s abandoned estate looked exactly that: abandoned. Run down, covered in vines and weeds. The old house was falling apart at the seams and the orchard that had once supported his ancestors was a wasteland. 

The place was mocking him, challenging him, but Ben was ready to meet it. 

****

The first time he saw her, she was standing beside the village bakery with a basket full of bread. Somewhere in her early twenties, she was barefoot and wore a faded green dress torn at the edges; a blue scarf protected her head from the sun, as equally blanched as her dress. 

Ben was drawn to her as a moth to a flame, though he was half convinced she was a mere figment of his imagination. A creature so beautiful couldn’t exist in a village like Jakku, in a province like Corellia that was infamous for producing the worst of the worst. 

He closed his eyes, certain she would be gone when he opened them. 

She was still there. A sign of life in the blot of nothingness where Ben now found himself. 

Then she passed him by and blessed him with her curious gaze, with her beautiful hazel eyes. Now he could see her tanned features; the freckles that dotted her nose and cheeks, the wisps of hair escaped from under her scarf that framed her face. Ben could see everything. 

Including the bruise peeking out from beneath the shoulder of her dress. 

****

A month passed before he saw the girl again. But he thought of her as he worked the land and right the dilapidated villa he now called home. The physical labor did wonders for him; Ben had never been inactive or unfit, but using his hands and laboring in the sun carved his body into the best form it had ever been. 

His hands were rough and tanned and lined with white scars from his work but when he collapsed into his cot at night, body aching, he slept like he’d never slept before. Deep and dreamless. Every morning was met head-on; nothing that cess pit of a property threw at him would dissuade him. He would conquer it.

So far Ben only had time for once-a-week excursions to the village for supplies and those were short. He made sure of it, wanting to have as much daylight as possible to work. But on the first day of his second month of exile, Ben decided to take a day of rest. Sunday was as good a day as any. It was made for it. 

He dressed in his cleanest pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, taking a late morning before he made his way to the village. He walked the two miles from the villa at a leisurely pace, arriving close to noon. The sun was high, its rays warming the land in a lazy way that mirrored the movements of the denizens on the ground. 

Young and old alike were out enjoying a day off, relaxing under the various trees throughout the village or splashing about in the puddles caused by a storm the night before. 

She was walking along the edge of the graveled main road through the village, her arms full of fresh laundry. Ben was behind her as he came up on the village center and he slowed to watch her. Her head was turned and he followed her gaze to a group of children running through a large puddle, filling the air with laughter and screams of delight. He saw her pause to watch and his heart tumbled in his chest when she smiled. The children noticed her and paused their mischief to wave. She waved back, her smile widening. Though the exchange was brief, it was evident the children loved her and she them.

As she moved forward again, a gust of wind picked up the scarf around her head - revealing chestnut hair bound in a unique three-bun style - and blew it back down the road, to drop at Ben’s feet like a gift from the gods. 

He knelt to pick it up and when he rose saw the girl was staring at him. There wasn’t much road between them and he took the space in three strides. Ben couldn’t believe his luck; here was a chance to speak with her and hear her voice. 

What would she sound like? Soft and gentle? Warm and melodious? His heart drummed a frantic beat in anticipation.

“Hello.” He greeted upon reaching her and held out the fallen scarf. “This is yours.”

Her eyes darted to the scarf and back to his face but she remained silent. After a second she shifted the laundry in her arms to one side and reached out for the scarf. Ben laid it in her open palm gingerly; their fingers brushed for a second before she snatched her hand back. Her eyes held him captive under their intelligent gaze as she seemed to examine him. He kept still, anxious that if he moved she would leave. 

Then she spoke. 

“Thank you.” 

Her voice was better than what he imagined; gentle but clear as a bell with an accent he knew wasn’t local. 

“You’re welcome.” Ben replied and continued, “My name’s Ben.”

The girl pressed her lips together before venturing: “You’re new here.”

“Yes.” Ben nodded. “I live in the old villa.”

Recognition and curiosity lit her eyes. “That place is garbage.”

Brutal but true. “I’m trying to fix it.”

A shout from down the way caused her to jump and she darted a glance over her shoulder. Her movement revealed a welt on her neck and Ben went cold. 

“I need to go.” She said and would have moved on but he stepped forward. 

“Wait. What’s your name?” 

Her eyes flicked back to him and she hesitated. “I-I’m Rey.”

Rey. Like the beams from the sun. “Can I see you again?” he asked, the desire too much to hold inside and ignore. Rey’s stare widened. 

“I… I don’t think…”

“Please.” Ben took another step toward her and locked eyes with her. “Please.”

Rey’s tongue darted out to wet her lips and Ben followed its path. “I do laundry,” she told him. “For some in the village. If…” she swallowed. “If you need laundry done… I’ll come to your villa and collect it.”

“Tomorrow?” he asked eagerly. “Will you come tomorrow?”

Her chest heaved as if she were suddenly breathless and her cheeks flushed. “Tomorrow.” She said, backing away. “Yes.”

Ben remained where he was as she hurried away. He would see her again tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

****

Rey came, just as she promised, with a sack for his laundry. Ben only had one shirt for her. She insisted on taking more but Ben refused her. 

“That’s all I have for you today.” He said. 

She passed him a dubious look. “One shirt? You’ve done all of this,” she waved a hand over the house, which was looking closer to decent than it had for years, “but you only have one shirt to clean?”

Ben shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pants pockets. “Yes. For today.” 

Her eyes narrowed. “For today.” She repeated. 

“For today.” Ben affirmed.

“And tomorrow?”

Oh, he knew she was quick. Ben’s mouth twitched toward a smile, something he hadn’t done in ages. 

“I’ll have something else. And the day after that, I’ll have another thing for you. And the day after that…”

“Something else,” Rey finished. Her head tilted to one side and that already familiar curious expression appeared on her face. “Why?”

He could have hedged around why. He could have lied or not answered at all. But when one was in hell - and Jakku was hell - there was no point in lying. 

“Because you’re the only beautiful thing in this godforsaken place, Rey, and I don’t want a day to go by where I don’t see you.”

Rey sucked in a sharp breath and a lovely pink blossomed across her cheeks. Her eyes dropped to the shirt she held in her hands and she turned away from him. Ben’s mood instantly soured. He’d been foolish to hope after a confession like that she’d return. 

“I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Those four words struck him in the chest like a sandbag and he raised his eyes from the stone step he stood on. She was frozen in the middle of the dirt path with wide eyes. As soon as his gaze met hers, she nodded and ran off.

Ben smiled. 

****

Rey did indeed return the next day for a new piece of clothing. And the day after. And the day after that. Every day for two weeks and each day she diligently returned his clothes clean and often mended if they had a need. Ben didn’t ask her to stay any longer than she wanted. He didn’t want to lose the one good thing about the damn place by scaring her off. 

Sometimes he saw her in the village. She acknowledged him politely, as a neighbor should, but that was the extent of it. When she came to the house it was a little different. She was warmer and even smiled at him once. As if she felt safer. Maybe she did. If so, Ben couldn’t help aching for more, if only to see her smile. He did feel a little guilty for making her clean his things; he knew how to do it on his own but he couldn’t stop and he paid her for the work. All the same, he longed for the day when he could stop handing her laundry and she would return on her own. 

The routine changed abruptly when she arrived at the villa with the latest items she’d cleaned for him. Instead of leaving right away with her new item, she dawdled. Ben waited to see if she would say anything but she didn’t. A few moments passed in an awkward silence before her face fell as if she were disappointed and she stepped away. 

He’d done something. Or not done something. She wanted to stay, Ben knew it in his bones. So he decided to take a chance. 

“Would you like to see what I’ve done to the house?” He called, wincing as his voice cracked like a teenager’s. 

Rey stopped. She pivoted and, her lips pressed tightly together, she nodded. Ben stepped outside and gestured for her to join him. She strode beside him, hands behind her back, as he showed her around the house, pointing out the things he’d already done and had yet to do. He explained his entire plan for the old place. She didn’t respond much. Just nods and murmurs of appreciation here and there. When they arrived back at the dirt path to the road, she didn’t look at him.

“Thank you,” she said softly and picked up her laundry bag from where she’d left it. “I’ll return tomorrow.”

The next day Ben offered to show her the inside of the house, with the promise that the front door would remain open. The tour went much the same as the day before. He explained and she listened quietly. 

On the third day of the new normal, Ben decided to risk a little more. 

“I want to show you the orchard.” He said upon her arrival, not even waiting until she had given him back the trousers she’d cleaned. Rey considered him for a moment. 

“The orchard?”

“Yes.” Ben nodded. “I want to hear what you think. Would you come with me?” He took a breath and held out his hand to her, unable to hide the slight tremor in his fingers as he did. Rey stared down at his hand for what seemed like an eternity, but Ben did not drop it. He would wait for longer than eternity if that’s what she needed. 

Finally, her slim fingers glided over his palm, the touch sending a spark of electricity through Ben’s body. His hand closed over hers and he almost sighed. Never had anything felt more _right_. 

Ben led her to a hill in his olive orchard, under one of the largest trees he’d managed to save. It overlooked half the valley in a view that wasn’t terrible, if one liked stubbled grass, rocky ground, and coarse shrubbery. 

For awhile they stood in silence and observed. Upon arriving, Rey had dropped his hand and Ben was forlorn at the loss. But he wasn’t going to press her for anything. If this moment was the extent of their relationship, he would accept it gladly. 

“Why are you here?” she asked abruptly. Ben looked down at her but Rey’s eyes were fixed on the horizon. 

He couldn’t lie. Not to her. 

“I was exiled.”

“Why?”

Ben turned. He wanted to see her face as he told his truth, see if there was any hope she would return to him after she learned it. Rey turned as well, her eyes expectant and curious. Beautiful. 

“I killed some men.”

Those beautiful eyes widened and her mouth parted. After a second she swallowed but didn’t drop her gaze. He got the sense she was gauging him, too. 

“Were they bad men?” she asked, surprising him. Ben nodded.

“Yes. Very bad. They killed my father.” 

“Then it was revenge.”

“Yes. And I don’t regret it.” 

A frown appeared between Rey’s brows. She returned her focus to the view and silence fell. Ben knew he’d probably lost her; some miracle would have to happen for that not to be the case, and in hell, there were no miracles. 

“I saw your tattoo.” She said. “You were in one of the Families, weren’t you.”

One of the Five Families, the ones who ruled the world’s criminal underworld and now existed in a fragile peace, no thanks to Ben. It wasn’t a question. Ben knew she was smart. 

“Yes. The two suns represent the Skywalker clan.”

“Then you were bad, too.”

Ben’s heart sank. “Yes.”

Rey faced him again. “Are you now?”

“I-I don’t know.” 

Her eyes narrowed in a thoughtful fashion as she looked on him again. 

“You’re not.” She announced quietly and tentatively raised a hand to his cheek, hesitating for a split second before she let her palm slide across his skin. Her touch was a balm to his soul and Ben closed his eyes and allowed himself to lean into her hand. “I think you’re a good man.”

His eyes opened and he did not hide how they dropped to her mouth. Never before had anyone told him he was good; he didn’t think it himself, why would anyone else? That Rey did despite knowing who he was and what he’d done filled him with overwhelming emotions he didn’t have a name for. He wanted her to know what he was feeling, he wanted to share it, express it in the only way he could think. Ben placed his hand over hers and pulled it down to his heart. 

“Rey. I want to kiss you.”

Her cheeks flushed pink and her breath quickened but she didn’t move away. Indeed, she leaned toward him, tilting her head up in silent consent. 

Certain he was dreaming and soon he would wake to find himself alone in his cot, Ben pressed forward before that happened. His nose bumped hers as he sought her lips. Rey’s eyes were open and wide and followed his every move. Her breath warmed his skin in shaky puffs that stopped altogether as Ben edged closer. Ben paused for second, meeting her gaze, giving her a chance to change her mind, but Rey surprised him again. She was the one who charged forward, who crossed the final bridge. Her lips met his in a soft, shy touch but to Ben it was everything. 

She was everything. 

****

After that whenever Rey visited they would escape to the orchard. They would talk awhile and she would let him kiss her and hold her under the olive tree. Sometimes she would arrive with a strange expression and Ben instantly knew what she needed. He would hug her close and she would wind her arms around him and bury her face against his shoulder. Often she left his shirt wet from tears. She wouldn’t tell him why.

The rendezvous’ were shorter than Ben liked but she left him with a kiss and the promise to return. Every night was torture because he all he wanted was for the sun to rise so he could see her again. 

One day he couldn’t bear to see her leave and begged her to stay.

“Just for a moment longer.” 

Rey shook her head and stepped back and out of reach. “I can’t.”

“Why?” he asked and a shadow fell across her expression. “Rey, please tell me.” He swallowed before he continued. “I’ve seen the bruises. You try to hide them but I see them.”

Her face paled and her eyes filled with tears. Ben knew he’d opened a door they had silently agreed should remain closed, but he couldn’t ignore it anymore because a part of him broke every time he saw her hurt. 

“Please,” he whispered, his throat thick. “Tell me.”

Rey hugged her arms around herself and looked down. “Unkar the junker… I live with him.” 

She didn’t have to say he was the one who hurt her. 

“Why? Why not leave him?” Ben didn’t understand. “You… you could stay with me.” 

_Please stay with me_. 

But she shook her head, her tears falling freely and dotting the dirt at her feet. “I owe him. M-my parents owed him. They died. I have to pay their debt now. It’s the law here.”

Ben’s chest heaved and he wet his lips. His chin trembled despite his efforts to stop it. “That’s wrong. You shouldn’t be with him. You should be with me.”

Rey sucked in a breath and drew him into her embrace. Ben wrapped his arms tight around her and pressed his lips to her neck. 

He would free her from her prison. He would. 

Even if he had to kill again. 

****

A storm arrived that night. A heavy, summer storm that let loose all the pent up fury of the heavens. The wind knocked about everything that was loose outside and the rain pummeled the earth with an unmatched rage. Thunder volleyed and lightning flashed across the sky in a war that terrified the mortals. 

It was so loud Ben almost didn’t hear the pounding on the villa door. Near midnight, he couldn’t imagine who the hell would be out, much less who would be wandering about in a hellish storm. 

Then he opened the door to Rey in her green dress, soaked and panting, her eyes red and desperate. Ben only had a few seconds to wonder what she was doing there before she grabbed his face and tugged him into a feral kiss. The force of it was enough to make him stumble backward but she followed him, her hands dropping to grip his shirt in tight fists. Ben wrapped his arms around her and took charge, which seemed to be exactly what Rey wanted because she whimpered in relief. But he needed to know what she was doing there and in so much distress. He pulled away and she sobbed but he ignored the way the sound stabbed him through the heart to focus. 

“Rey, what’s wrong?” he asked hoarsely. “Why… why are you here? You’re soaked to the bone…”

Her eyes roved over his face wildly. She lifted her hands to follow her eyes’ path with her fingers, brushing over his lips gingerly. Her entire body trembled and Ben knew it wasn’t just because she was wet. 

“I needed t-to see you… I need you…” Tears streamed down her cheeks, mixing with the rain. 

“Did he touch you again? Did he hurt you?” Ben tightened his hold around her, his entire body coiling in anger. 

She shook her head. “N-not like that. Not this time. He… he said things. Ben…” Rey lifted her eyes to his, a plea in her voice. “Make me feel good. I want to feel good. I want…” 

“Shh.” Ben kissed all over her face, kissing away her tears and, he hoped, her grief. “Sweetheart, I’ll make you feel good, I promise.”

Rey nodded but as he moved to withdraw, intent on getting her out of her wet clothes and into something dry, she pulled him back into a heated kiss. Her fingers clawed at his shirt, tugging as if she wanted it off. This was new, different. She hadn’t yet been so passionate in their embraces which left Ben concerned. 

“Rey?” he mumbled against her lips. “What…”

She stopped with a pained whine. “You said,” she whispered tearfully, “you said you’d make me feel good.”

“Rey.” Ben lowered his voice and caught her gaze. His heart hammered against his ribs almost painfully. She wanted something else, something different than he’d thought. “How do you want me to do that?”

“Y-you know how.”

Ben shook his head. “I need to hear you say it.”

To his amazement a blush spread over her cheeks but she answered bravely: “I want you to make love to me.”

That was enough to warm his blood and leave him straining at his trousers but Ben couldn’t let his own desires get in the way of her well-being. 

“You’re upset.” He took a breath. “You need to think…”

“I am upset.” Rey admitted. “But I know what I want. I want you. I _need_ you. Now.” Her body trembled but her voice was strong and her eyes were clear. 

Maybe he shouldn’t have believed her so easily; maybe he shouldn’t have believed her at all. Maybe, if he were a better man, he would have argued longer or refused. He wasn’t a better man. 

Ben hauled her against him and delighted in her gasp before he smothered it with a hungry kiss. Rey groaned and looped her arms around his neck, drawing herself up as much as she could as he plundered her mouth with his tongue.

When they parted for breath, Rey looked as if she were in a daze. Her cheeks and lips were cherry red and though he’d already imbibed, Ben wanted more. But not there. He lifted her into his arms, holding her protectively to his chest; she weighed almost nothing. Rey nuzzled into his neck, pressing a light, sweet kiss there as he made for the villa’s master bedroom.

Ben’s heart stuttered in his chest. She trusted him; he wouldn’t let her down. 

****

Rey’s dress was the first thing to come off; it was wet and dirty and she was shivering when he set her on the new bed he’d made to replace the cot. A fortuitous decision. 

When she was bare before him, Ben took a moment to appreciate her. Gods, she was beautiful. A work of art and he was the first to view her, to see her lovely curves and pert breasts. He ached for her but as his eyes traveled along her form, the light from a nearby lamp revealed the scars and ugly bruises that were normally hidden from him beneath her dress. His jaw tightened and rage filled him anew at the things she’d been made to suffer in Unkar’s house. 

“Ben?” Rey’s voice shook him from his internal tirade and he looked up to see trepidation and insecurity in her gentle eyes. 

He couldn’t have that. She needed him. She needed to know she was beautiful. 

Ben removed his shirt, tossing it aside before he crawled over her and kissed her again. Rey sighed with what he knew was relief and returned his kiss with fervor, her shaking hands sliding across his abdomen. He broke away to trail more caresses down her jaw, her throat, to her breasts and sternum. He made his way down her body as she sang a glorious chorus of moans and sighs harmonized by the thunder outside. When he reached a scar or bruise, he slowed and gentled, hoping to replace the hurt with something better. 

He kept going until he was kneeling on the floor and laving open-mouthed kisses along first one thigh then the other. 

“W-what are you… _oh…_ ” Rey’s question died as he sucked a mark into her flesh. He didn’t need to hear the rest; he knew what she was asking. 

“I’m going to make you feel good, sweetheart.” He murmured in reply as he lifted her legs over his shoulders and drew her body closer. “Trust me.”

****

The storm faded and left behind a deeper night and brighter stars but Ben didn’t care to look. He only cared about the woman who was on her side, looking at him with her bright, expressive eyes. They were shy now, but Ben didn’t read any regret. She shifted closer and Ben reached out for her, curling his fingers into her loosened hair and drawing her into a deep kiss. 

When they parted she sighed and curled against his chest. Ben closed his eyes and rested his cheek against the top of her head. He’d never been so content in his life than he was at that moment. Maybe he lived in hell but he’d found a little piece of heaven among the flames.

“I have to go.” 

The whispered words struck him like a thousand bullets, battering his soul to leave him bleeding and helpless. 

“Don’t.” He pleaded, throat thick. “Please. Don’t go back to him.”

Rey’s entire body trembled against his. “I don’t have a choice.”

Ben drew back to view her scared, sorrowful expression and cupped her cheek. “You do. Stay with me. I can protect you.”

“He knows people,” she whispered. “They’ll hurt you. You can’t steal someone’s debt.”

“You’re not just someone’s debt,” Ben said, pained. “You’re a person. A beautiful and vibrant person who shouldn’t have to suffer their parents sins.”

Tears streamed down her cheeks. “You’re the only one who believes that.”

“You’re the only one who believes I’m good.” Something wet dripped down Ben’s nose and he realized he was crying, too. 

His response seemed to shake her and she stared at him for a few seconds, her breathing labored, before she surged forward and crushed her mouth to his. Ben rolled over, covering her with his body as he returned her kiss, a futile effort to protect her from the world outside.

When they parted, he pressed more tender kisses to her cheeks, overwhelmed by an emotion he didn’t know he possessed anymore. Like all his other decisions since he’d arrived in Jakku, Ben knew there was no point in keeping that feeling to himself. He raised his head enough to catch her gaze and gave her what he knew had to be a melancholy smile. 

“I love you.”

Rey’s gasp was sharp and fresh tears sprang from her eyes. “No,” she burst with a violent shake of her head. “No, you can’t. You can’t.” Her hands pushed at his chest. “You can’t.”

“Rey, Rey, stop. It’s alright.” Ben fell back on his side and wrapped his arms around her to stop her. She continued to struggle against him for a moment but he didn’t budge and she gave up and fell into sobs. “It’s alright, sweetheart.” 

He had no idea his confession would cause her such distress. That was the last thing he wanted. Perhaps she didn’t love him in return, perhaps he was nothing more to her than an escape from her horror-filled life. If that was the case he didn’t care. He’d be whatever she needed to him to be. As long as he was hers. 

“Why did you have to say it?” Rey sounded so small, so fragile he thought she would break if he moved.  


“Because I needed to.” He replied quietly. “It’s alright if you don’t feel the same. I don’t expect…”

“You shouldn’t have said it.” She sniffed. Her face remained hidden against his chest. “You shouldn’t have said it. The people who say it… they leave me.”

“Sweetheart…” Ben tried to draw back but she refused to move. “Rey, look at me,” he murmured. “Please.” Slowly, she lifted her face and Ben’s heart shattered to see how forlorn and weary and frightened she looked. He cupped her chin to hold her gaze. “I’m not going anywhere.” 

Rey raised her hands to his cheeks. Her eyes roved over his face as if she were trying to memorize his features. 

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” she whispered. 

****

Rey’s visits slowed to once a week. Unkar, she explained, had become suspicious of her daily trips the old villa. Her excuse that Ben was a demanding man with many laundering needs only went so far to explain her frequent absences. 

Of course, Ben didn’t like it. He hated it, in fact. Seeing her only once a week was torture of the worst kind. However, he couldn’t say he didn’t enjoy making up the lost time with her. Especially because Rey often took the initiative. She would walk calmly up to him when she arrived at the villa, take his hand, and pull him to the bedroom with little said in between. 

The sounds she made and the feel of her around him got him through to the next time he saw her.

Ben knew it couldn’t last forever. Eventually Unkar would figure out the truth and force Rey to keep away from Ben. He needed to find a solution. Hell certainly wouldn’t do him any favors. 

Hell would not. 

Fate had its own plan.

****

Representatives of the Family popped up at the villa one hot day with a message from Ben’s uncle: it was time to come home. 

“There’s a war brewing,” Dameron told him dourly. “Your father’s murder was only the beginning. The Palpatine’s have been manipulating all of us and have made the final move.” 

“So I was right.” Ben crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the doorjamb, feeling no lack of satisfaction. “And now Uncle Luke needs to be rescued.”

“The Family needs you.” Dameron corrected pointedly. “The others are taking sides and we’re in the red. Are you coming back with us or not?”

Ben was about to say no, he wasn’t interested. His family had abandoned him. Ben wasn’t the traitor; they were.

But Rey crossed his mind and he thought twice. This was their escape. With the power of his family behind him, Ben could rescue her from the debt Unkar held over her. Yes, it would mean returning to Coruscant and doing his uncle’s bidding again, but Rey would be with him. She would be safe. They could be together, if she’d have him. 

There was no choice. 

“Yes, I’ll go back. But I’ve got something to do first.” He was expecting Rey that very day at the olive tree and it was almost time. They could leave right then and Unkar would never be the wiser. “Wait inside. Have whatever you want from the kitchen.” Ben pushed by Dameron and made for the orchard without another word of explanation. 

But Rey didn’t come. Ben waited for an hour by the tree, pacing furiously. Not showing wasn’t like her, but Unkar had been difficult lately so maybe he’d sent her off on some errand… 

Or maybe he’d beaten her until she couldn’t move. 

Ben stopped, his stomach threatening to return his lunch. The thought was too much to bear; he needed to find her. He returned to the villa and found Dameron and the others in the kitchen, helping themselves to Ben’s meager pantry. 

“Are you ready?” Dameron asked. 

“No. I need your help.”

Dameron looked behind him at the three other people with him, armed to the teeth beneath their suits. “All of us?”

A grim smile lifted Ben’s mouth. “All of you.”

****

Rey had never told him exactly where she lived but it didn’t matter. He’d tear the entire village apart until he found her, but he knew who to ask before it came to that. He made for the town’s center where the people who could help him often gathered. 

The poorest in the village: the orphans. 

They were lazing about around a broken fountain. When Ben approached with his small entourage, all scattered but one. 

“Was wondering how long it would take you. I was just about to go get you.” Bebe remarked. “Who’s the gang?” He was the closest to Rey of all the children and knew about her and Ben. Rey trusted him and so did Ben.

“They’re friends. Where is she?” Ben asked. He’d explained the situation to Dameron and the others and, while surprised, to their credit they were more than happy to help him get Rey out. Men like Unkar didn’t last long in their Family. 

“Follow me.” Bebe said and darted down a side street. Ben and his group were close behind him and followed him to a rickety house that looked on the verge of collapse. Bebe pointed to it with a grim expression. “Unkar’s in there,” he informed. 

“Good. Dameron, you know what to do.”

“Yes, sir.”

With that Ben strode forward and kicked at the door without so much as a call to any occupants. The old hinges broke with a loud crack and the door fell in. Ben wasted no time making his way inside. 

“What in the he- who are you?” Unkar appeared from another room and pointed a grubby finger at Ben. “Get the hell out!”

Instead of obeying Ben grabbed Unkar by the collar and shoved him against a moldy wall, sparing no gentleness. 

“Where is she?” He snarled. “What did you do?”

Unkar’s glassy eyes narrowed. “Oh, so yer the one she’s been sneaking out ta see. Keepin’ her from her jobs. I didn’t do nothin’ the little whore didn’t deserve.”

Ben tightened his hold around Unkar’s neck but left enough air for the ugly man to speak. “Where. Is. She.”

Unkar, quickly understanding he was on the losing side, jerked his head toward a nearby staircase and croaked: “Up there.”

Dropping Unkar like the waste he was, Ben rushed up the stairs. They creaked violently under his weight and speed. There were two doors down the hallway. The first revealed nothing and Ben left it quickly for the next. He burst through it without hesitation. 

She was sitting on an old, rusty bed with straw for a mattress and a half-filled pillow stuffed in a dirty pillowcase. One side of her dress was down and she was turned in a way that revealed ugly red welts - some dripping scarlet - on her back. A bowl of water sat on the floor and she was in the middle of taking a wet cloth to the injuries when Ben entered. She gasped and dropped the cloth, standing abruptly and knocking over the bowl of water. But the sudden movement must have dizzied or pained her because she dropped heavily back to the bed.

Ben hurried forward and slid to the floor, coming to a stop at her feet. He gingerly placed his hands on her knees. Her eyes were squeezed closed and her breaths were shallow and quick. Ben recognized it as a way to get through the pain of an injury; he’d done the same thing plenty of times himself. 

“Rey, sweetheart…”

A soft whimper escaped her lips and she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, hiding her face in the crook of his neck and shoulder. Ben carefully slid one arm around her waist, avoiding where he thought the worst of her injuries were. 

“I’m taking you away,” he whispered. “And you’re never coming back here.”

“No.” She shook her head. “Unkar… he’ll…” 

“It doesn’t matter now.”

“Ben-”

“Please.” Ben couldn’t help the tremor that entered his voice. “Don’t make me leave you here. It’s killing me.”

Rey shivered and her fingers curled into his shirt. “They’ll kill you. They’ll take you away from me.”

“I won’t let that happen. I won’t leave you. Trust me.”

She took a deep, shuddering breath. “I don’t want to stay. I want to be with you,” she admitted softly, as if just saying it would bring down the punishment she so feared. Ben drew back and took her face in his hands. 

“Then be with me.” 

****

Ben helped Rey hobble down the stairs. He would have carried her but the state of her back left that out of the question. The journey was precarious but he made sure she didn’t fall. 

Unkar was awaiting them outside, a couple of large, surly men with him. Rey’s hand tightened in Ben’s and she shrank back. He stepped forward and pushed her behind him. 

“I’m taking her with me, Unkar.” He said in a tone that bore no argument. 

“You don’t ‘ave the right.” The junker responded with a growl. “She owes me.”

“I’ve got a feeling that’s not entirely true.” Ben countered. “But it doesn’t matter. I’m taking her.” He made to step forward but Unkar gestured to his lackeys and they blocked the way. 

“Ben…” Rey warned. He squeezed her hand. 

“It’s alright, sweetheart. Dameron!”

On cue, Dameron and the others appeared from the shadows, weapons drawn and aimed at Unkar and his burly guards. They all turned and froze. 

"What is this?” Unkar demanded. “Hey, you can’t take her!” The junker made a lot of noise but neither he nor his bodyguards moved against their armed opponents. 

Ben ignored everyone in favor of guiding Rey to the cars waiting on the road. She stared at the members of the Skywalker clan and passed Ben a curious, awed expression. 

“I’ll explain later.” He told her quietly. “But you’re safe now, Rey. I’m going to keep you safe.”

****

In the backseat of one of the Family’s Daimlers, as Dameron drove them away from Jakku, Ben told Rey how he had freed her from Unkar’s clutches. 

“But…” she gripped his hand like a vise. “That also means you have to go do terrible things again… in a war…”

Ben looked down at their hands and stroked his thumb over her knuckles. “Yes. If…” he swallowed and even though his next words were like poison, he continued. “If that means you can’t be with me, I understand.” He raised his gaze to hers and hoped she read his sincerity. “I wanted you to be safe and free. Now you are. You’ll be under my family’s protection, whether you decide to stay with me or not.” 

Rey’s expression gentled. “Oh, Ben,” she lifted a hand and cupped his cheek. “How could I leave you? I love you.”

It was the first time she’d said it. Ben’s jaw dropped and he scooted closer to her. “Say that again.”

A smile like he’d never seen on her before - one that lit her eyes and wrinkled her nose - appeared on her face and he vowed that he would strive to make her smile like that every day. 

“I love you, Ben.”

In all his simplest and wildest dreams, Ben didn’t think he’d ever heard four words that made him so indescribably happy. Yes, Jakku had been hell. But the journey he’d taken through its levels had brought him to heaven’s gate and she was there beside him, holding his hand. 

Never had there been a sweeter torment.


End file.
